The present invention relates to an information distribution method and system for distributing information to a portable terminal using the Internet, and an information center that constructs the information distribution system.
In recent years, various kinds of information providing services using the Internet have been proposed. An example of them is a position information service for providing information of the current position and the map around it. In such position information service, a portable terminal is equipped with a function (positioning function) of measuring its current position. An information center formed from a WWW (World Wide Web) server provides to the portable terminal map information that is acquired by the portable terminal in correspondence with the current position.
Portable terminals capable of acquiring their positions include a terminal having a GPS (Global Positioning System) function that is well-known for a car navigation system or the like, and a terminal that specifies its current position on the basis of the position information (latitude and longitude) of a base station that is radio-communicating with the terminal. As terminals of latter type, generally, PHS (Personal Handyphone System) terminals and cell phones are known. The cell phones are poorer in positioning accuracy than PHS.
Recently, an information distribution system which provides not only such a position information service but also simultaneously information related to the provided map has also been proposed, which provides, e.g., town information such as leisure and lodging facilities and restaurants or traffic information such as nearest stations and bus stops. FIG. 9 shows a conventional information distribution system.
The information distribution system shown in FIG. 9 is constituted by a portable terminal 101 having a radio communication function, a base station 102 that communicates with the portable terminal 101 by radio, and an information center 104 connected to the base station 102 through Internet 103. The base station 102 is installed for each predetermined area. The installation location (latitude and longitude) is known in advance.
The portable terminal 101 has a basic arrangement (not shown) comprising a display section formed from an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an input section (operation keys), a control section, and a storage section. The portable terminal 101 additionally has a positioning section 101a which corrects a latitude and longitude acquired by the GPS receiving function on the basis of the acquired latitude and longitude of the base station 102, and a browser 101b that is known browsing software. The positioning section 101a has the GPS receiving function and a function of acquiring the information of the latitude and longitude of the base station 102 by communicating with the base station 102 by radio. The storage section stores programs that execute known data processing such as data communication, window display (display of a menu window or reception window (data)), and data input using the operation keys (including selection/input by moving the cursor). These programs are read out and executed by the control section. The positioning section 101a can also be implemented by a program.
The portable terminal 101 can be connected to the Internet 103 through an ISP (Internet Service Provider) server that has a contract with the user in advance. When the control section executes the browser 101b installed in the storage section in advance, the user can browse a desired one of pieces of information that are accessible on the Internet 103. Examples of such portable terminals 101 are a terminal called a browser phone and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that is compatible with PHS and has a browser function.
The information center 104 is an ASP (Application Service Provider) server. This server has a database 104a in which contents such as map information, town information, and traffic information provided on the Internet 103 by other ASP servers (content servers) contracted in advance are registered for each area. The areas are defined by dividing the whole country into a plurality of zones. At least one base station is installed in one area. The information center 104 has an area specifying section 104b which receives portable terminal position information acquired by the positioning section 101a from the portable terminal 101 and then obtains an area corresponding to the current position of the portable terminal 101 from the received portable terminal position information, and a Web page distributing section 104c which reads out, from the database 104a, contents (Web pages) such as map data (Web pages) or related information (town information or traffic information) associated with the obtained area and distributes the contents to the portable terminal 101.
The operation of the conventional information distribution system having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 10. When the user powers on his/her portable terminal 101, a predetermined menu window is displayed on the display section. The menu window contains items relates to the position information service. The user performs input operation by moving the cursor onto an item using the operation keys.
When the input operation is performed, the positioning section 101a of the portable terminal 101 is activated. The positioning section 101a acquires its rough position (latitude and longitude) by the GPS function and requires position information from the base station 102 (step S31). Upon receiving the position information request from the portable terminal 101, the base station 102 transfers its position information (latitude and longitude) to the portable terminal 101 (step S32). On the basis of the thus acquired base station position information, the positioning section 101a corrects its rough position (latitude and longitude) that is acquired early by the GPS function, thereby calculating its accurate position information (portable terminal position information). The portable terminal 101 transmits the portable terminal position information obtained by the positioning function 101a to the information center 104 and requests distribution of contents (step S33).
Upon receiving the content distribution request, the information center 104 requires the portable terminal 101 to transmit a user ID and password, which are registered in advance, to confirm whether the user of the portable terminal is authentic (step S34).
The user ID and password are registered when the user of the portable terminal 101 has done use registration in the information distribution system. The user ID is registered in accordance with, e.g., the following procedure. First, the user accesses a Web page of registration, which is made accessible on the Internet 103 by the information center 104, using his/her portable terminal 101. The user inputs necessary information (mail address and the like) on the Web page and requests issue of an ID. In response to the ID issue request, the information center 104 first transmits e-mail to the user to confirm that, e.g., “the registration information has been transmitted from the user, and if he/she will register himself/herself, he/she must access a URL (Uniform Resource Locators) for registration”. The user accesses the registration URL received from the information center 104 using the portable terminal 101 and registers the user ID and password there.
In response to the user ID & password transmission request, the portable terminal 101 transmits the user ID and password input by the user to the information center 104 (step S35). The information center 104 checks whether the user ID and password received from the portable terminal 101 are registered in the authentication database created when the user ID and password are registered. Only when they are registered, the information center 104 executes content distribution (to be described later). If the user ID and password are not registered, the information center 104 transmits a message representing it to the portable terminal 101. The information center 104 may transmit to the portable terminal 101 a message to prompt the user to register the user ID and password.
When it is determined that the user is an authentic user, the area specifying section 104b in the information center 104 obtains an area corresponding to the current position of the portable terminal 101 on the basis of the portable terminal position information received from the portable terminal 101. In addition, the Web page distributing section 104c transmits to the portable terminal 101 the list information (including the URL information of contents) of contents such as map data (Web pages), town information, and traffic information related to the obtained area (step S36).
When the portable terminal 101 receives the content list information from the information center 104, the browser 101b is activated to display the received content list information on the display section. When the user performs input operation by moving the cursor onto a desired item of the content list information using the operation keys, the browser 101b accesses the URL of the content selected and input by the cursor. With this access, a content request is sent from the portable terminal 101 to the information center 104 through the Internet 103 (step S37).
Upon receiving the content request from the portable terminal 101, the Web page distributing section 104c in the information center 104 reads out the Web page of the requested content from the database 104a and transmits the Web page to the portable terminal 101 (step S38). In the portable terminal 101, the content (Web page) received from the information center 104 is displayed on the display section.
By repeating the processes in steps S37 and S38, the user can browse various contents (Web pages).
According to the above-described conventional information distribution system, the area is automatically narrowed down in accordance with the current position information of the portable terminal 101, and map data and town information related to that area are provided. For this reason, the operability in receiving the position information service increases, and the user can easily acquire a wealth of information.
However, the conventional information distribution system described above has the following problems.
The map data provided to the portable terminal 101 is generally simple, and no detailed information is displayed. For this reason, if the way to the destination is complex, it is difficult to find the way to the destination only on the map data provided to the portable terminal 101. Additionally, when the user has managed to arrive at the destination by the complex route, he/she may want to make a note about the complex route so that he/she can refer to both the map data and the note for the next visit. For town information, the user may also want to make a note of his/her comments about, e.g., a restaurant in association with the town information. However, the conventional information distribution system has no function of storing such notes in the system. Hence, the user must make notes by writing them in a note pad (notebook). The convenience is by no means high.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-160063 (reference 1) has proposed a system which stores a note related to provided information (homepage itself or URL) in a storage section in a portable terminal. The portable map display apparatus proposed in reference 1 can store a comment using an electronic address function that is prepared in the apparatus in advance. However, since the portable terminal must be compact and inexpensive, a large storage capacity is not preferable. Hence, storing a note on the portable terminal side is inconsistent with the demands for size and cost reduction of portable terminals.